So which deal is better? The B&H one with $100 off a lens comes out to $500 with the cheapest lens. The body direct from Panasonic ends up being about $326 after tax. It's turns out being about the same in the end but the one from Panasonic is a guaranteed 2011 model is it? Should I just the buy the body alone from Panasonic then buy an ideal lens later? Or buy the B&H package with a lens then sell the lens once I want to upgrade?
i suppose the question is which lens/es do you want?
advantage to body-only is that no one is dictating which lens you have to buy. If you were going to buy the 14-42mm anyway then why not b&H. the 14-42 is probably the least-liked lumix lens. But It is decent enough (on my unhacked) and autofocuses in video, it is certainly not 'bad'.. but i hardly ever use it :p
if you can deal with not having the range.. save an extra $100 up and get the 20mm 1.7. if you need range, think about adaptor + legacy glass.. prob get more for your $200...
Do you think it's worth replacing a 2010 model with a 2011 model GH1, to get possibly improved FPN? I only recently bought a 2010 model (because it was hackable) and paid $500 US without lens or battery (yup that's what they're goin for and they go fast)! I don't need two cameras. But I might consider getting a cheaper 2011 model and selling the 2010 model if it's worth it for improved picture. What do you think?
I'd love to get the 20mm 1.7 but it's out of stock at B&H. It's seems to be the lens everybody suggests if you're going to get just one lens for the gh1.
As for the adapter and legacy glass -- are you talking about that special amazon deal with the lens and m4/3 adapter because I can't seem to find that thing on amazon..
although i have no idea as to the reputation of those sellers.
adapter and legacy lens(es) i just mean getting any old (legacy) SLR lens and finding the corresponding m4/3 adapter. make sure the lens has an aperture control ring though. You'll have to live with no AF / IS (maybe), but generally this is something great about m4/3 - that the whole 'lens' world is open to you...
(adapters generally go for around $30ish? and the legacy glass for as much as ebay says it does on any given day :) )
I don't know enough to answer that... you should probably have a look on somewhere like dpreview's m4/3 forum, or dvxuser etc... those communities will likely have people who have made such comparisons.
also no need to restrict to olympus..
have a look at Vitaliy's timely new post on the the Nikon 18-70mm.
If the GH1 is capable of doing at least true 24p and way more than 17mbs, why didn't Panasonic do this from the factory and why did they make new ones "unhackable"? I love this cam(for the money I paid), and I'm gonna love it even more come monday, but I'm so angry at Panasonic for what they did. Way to engender brand loyalty guys.
Either way, thanks Vitaliy for doing what should of been done at the factory.
hey Vitaliy, I just came across your site looking for a patch for the gh1 i just bought and immediately dropped you a tiny amount of compensation for what you are doing. It is great. thank you very much. spassiba! otshjen prikrasnoje! til
Hey Vitaliy! Thanks for all your efforts. However, I just tried this on my camera and it still says "no valid picture to play" when I attempt to do the firmware hack. Any idea why? Thanks!
If you hit play button with an empty SD card it logically says that there's nothing to play. Record at least one still image or video onto your card prior to placing there new firmware .bin file.
I never had to do this before (when my camera was hackable previously). Alas I just tried taking a photo and placing the firmware file in the root of the card. Still didn't work. I was under the impression the card had to be formatted for the firmware update anyway?